A group, ‘Chiraa Progressive Union’ in the Sunyani West Municipality, has appealed to the Government to reshape the Municipality’s roads to open the area and woo investors for development.
The group bemoaned the deplorable condition of the Sunyani-Techiman road, Odumase town roads and the Odumase-Kwatire-Adentia-Bofourkrom road, saying the bad nature of the stretches was damaging vehicles.
“In fact, the Sunyani West Municipality is a failed Municipality in terms of roads. The state of the Sunyani-Kobedi-Chiraa portions of the Sunyani-Techiman road is now the worst in living memory”, the group said in a statement issued and signed by Joseph Opoku Kyeremeh, the convener.
A copy of the statement made available to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said the only better road in the Municipality was the seven-kilometre Fiapre and Nsoatre stretch of the Kumasi-Dormaa-Ahenkro highway constructed under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) era.
Roads, the statement explained, were necessary for “living in the modern age”, saying “what is happening between Chiraa, and Sunyani is terrible and requires urgent positive action.
“It is unthinkable that a major road which links two regional capitals, Sunyani and Techiman can deteriorate to such a deplorable level under the watch of those who should know better,” it added.
“Chiraa, as a major town, plays a significant role in the Sunyani West Municipality as it has the second largest population and the largest weekly market which attracts a large number of traders to the town on Tuesdays.”
“Chiraa fetches the Sunyani West Municipal Assembly more revenue than any other town in the Municipality and it is also the hub of sand, stone and quarry dust industry in the region,” it explained.
The statement indicated Ghana as a developing nation needed excellent quality infrastructure, transportation, and services and that “having a poor road system makes it more difficult for people to move from one place to the other, especially more expensive for farmers to bring their produce to the marketing centres in our case.”
“Constructing and repairing roads makes a powerful impact on the socio-economic livelihoods of the people in the rural areas. Many small towns in Ghana are poor and many, fueling irregular migration among the young people,” it explained.
The statement emphasized that road development enhanced socio-cultural and economic changes in the lives of the people, thus helping to reduce poverty through direct market access for farmers to sell their farm produce.
“There is growing evidence of anger, dissatisfaction and frustration among the people of Chiraa, and the union cannot ignore their justified concerns,” it stated and urged the Government “to tackle the Chiraa road with all seriousness for the people to feel that they are part of the Municipality”
